Portraits of People Holding Their School Pictures from Awkward Years

PetaPixel

Do you always laugh and squirm when you look back at official school pictures from “awkward years”? You’re not alone — take a peek at the Awkward Years Project and you’ll see what we mean. The project was started by a Utah-based graphic designer and photography enthusiast named Merilee, who’s collecting then-and-now portraits to show people who have blossomed since their awkward teen days.
Merilee defines the “awkward years” as “the years between being a cute kid to the awesome person you are today” — the years of braces, zits, big glasses, and being “victims of terrible fashion.”

The project started when Merilee had a conversation with a friend who didn’t believe Merilee had any awkward years. To show that she was “queen of the nerds” from grades 3 through 7, Merilee sent her friend a photograph. She writes,

I made her promise not to show anyone. I realize that picture was taken 20+ years ago, but the past still affects me. You know that mentality of overweight people who have lost so much weight but they still see themselves as fat? That’s how I feel. I may look normal now, but I still see myself as an awkward nerd. I wanted to take a picture of myself then & now, as if I had to hold my 5th grade self’s hand before giving it to my friend.

That photograph sparked an idea: Why not capture both periods of life in a before-and-after photograph? Thus, the project was born. Merilee started it off by posing for a portrait with her awkward class photo: